Waiting
by ImagineMallie
Summary: The baby is coming. How will the parents to be handle themselves while they wait for their dream to arrive?
1. Chapter 1

"Cal, wake up," Mark whispered in the dark. "Callie." Mark placed his hand over her belly, 8 ½ months pregnant.

"Hmmm…" she sleepily rolled from her left side to her right to face him.

"What?"

"You were groaning in your sleep. Is everything okay?"

With her eyes still shut, she responded, "Yes. I'm fine. Crap. Now I have to pee." Heaving herself out of the bed, she made her way to the bathroom. Closing the door and flipping the light switch, Callie looked at herself in the mirror. Cradling her bump, she spoke softly, "Not now, baby."

So she'd lied to Mark. For the last hour and a half she'd been sleeping on and off, being woken up by contractions ever 20 minutes or so. She was planning on waking him up, just not until she was sure it was real.

Her leg was wet. "Damn." Callie wondered how she'd completely lost control of her bladder. After using the toilet, she realized the wet trickle was still there. "No, no." She bent over and placed her forehead against the cool steel countertop as the beginnings of another contraction radiated from her back to the front of her belly.

"What are you doing?"

"Huh?"

"Callie, it's been ten minutes since you got out of bed. I heard you pee."

"Hold on," she tried focusing on breathing through the pain as she moved her hips back and forth.

Her black hair shielded her face, but standing behind her, Mark could tell this was more than false labor.

"Cal." He didn't want to come off too strongly and get yelled at by his very delicate fiancée right now. "Do we need to go to the hospital?"

"Not yet. I don't need the vultures picking at my bones for god knows how many hours," she responded, as she stood upright again. "Let's just go back to bed."

"What? How can you go back to bed?" Mark asked excitedly.

Callie grinned at him. He was practically jumping out of his skin with anticipation.

"It's 3:45 a.m. I'm tired. Feel free to stay up. But it won't do any good for either one of us."

She lay down in bed, desperate to go back to sleep, but her heart was racing with fear, nervousness and excitement.

Callie felt Mark's eyes on her from the doorway.

"We're going to be parents," he stated, half in shock. "Us, we're going to have a baby, _today._"

She propped herself up on her elbows. "I love you."

Mark walked over to his side of the bed and climbed in next to her. "Don't hurt mommy too much," he said to the baby. "She says she doesn't care. She's willing to hurt for her dream, but I know she cries easily," he whispered the last part.

"Hey!" she slapped him playfully. "I can handle some pain."

"When you broke your nose you could barely handle the pain_killer_," he reminded her.

"That was different. I was having a bad year."

They fell into an easy silence, Mark rubbing circles around the baby.

"Will you call Addison?"

"Why, what's wrong?" He shot up.

"Nothing. Calm down. I promised I'd call her when the baby was coming."

Reaching for his Blackberry, Mark dialed the all too familiar number, forgetting that it was the middle of the night.

"Hello?" she answered groggily.

"Addie, Callie's in labor."

"She's early! Are you at the hospital? How's she doing?"

"We're still at home, let me put her on the phone."

Mark looked to Callie to hand her the phone, but she shook her head, squeezing his free hand instead.

"She's having a contraction now, but so far so good."

"I'll be there in 5 hours."

"What?"

"I'm coming up. You think I'd miss this?"

Callie had relaxed again.

"Addison's coming," he conveyed to her.

"Oh, thank god," she sighed. "I trust her so much more than any other mediocre OB resident in that hospital. And I most definitely do not need Alex Karev pulling this baby out of a very small hole."

"Speaking of the hospital, shall we go?" Mark asked again, wanting to check on her progress.

"No. I don't want to go to the hospital. I just want to stay here with you and me. You know, babies pick up on stressful environments. That hospital is a stressful environment."

"What are you saying? You want to have the baby here? Callie, be rational, we don't have any of the equipment. If something goes wrong…"

"It won't."

"You don't know that."

"We live across the street from the hospital. If something's wrong we'll go. But, please, let's just stay here for now."

Callie started to get up.

"Where are you going?" he cautioned.

"I'm having a baby, Mark, I'm not dying."

She took two steps and would have retracted that comment if she could have formed words. She dropped to her knees against the side of the bed and moaned in pain.

Mark instantly jumped up, ready to do anything to help her. With some pretty good guesswork, he began kneading the base of her spine, slowly, to alleviate some of the pressure.

"Help me up."

"You're getting back in bed."

"No. It's not even natural to do this lying down. It'll be easier on me if I just stand up and move around and let the baby drop on its own. Did you know that in China women squat in rice paddies to give birth?"

"We're not in China, Callie."

She walked to the kitchen to fill up a glass of water. "I'm know that, but we need to consider more than just surgery here. We're surgeons. We think like doctors. But there's nothing wrong. I don't need a doctor."


	2. Chapter 2

Two hours later, the pair had moved into the living room. Mark sat on the couch in black sweats and an old t-shirt watching early morning reruns of _All in the Family_. Callie alternated between rocking back and forth on her hands and knees next to the couch and lying on the couch so Mark could rub lavender lotion into her swollen feet. The contractions were now closer to 8 minutes apart. Every time Mark brought up going to the hospital, Callie shut him down. As her next contraction started, she moved to the floor and Mark rolled to the opposite end of the couch, placing both feet quietly on the ground. He had almost made it into the bedroom when she whimpered.

"Where are you going?" she questioned, panic rising in her voice.

"I'll be right back," he vaguely answered.

Mark went into the bathroom to make the phone call.

When he returned to the couch, Callie had resumed her position, eyes closed, absentmindedly using her finger to draw on her belly. Mark took a second to look at his fiancé. Of course she looked gorgeous, even in his oversize Mickey Mouse t-shirt. Though under the peaceful exterior, her face appeared mildly troubled. Her eyes were squeezed more tightly shut than normal, her left hand was clenched in a fist, and her mouth wore no expression. Since she found out about the baby, Callie had worn a smile almost all the time, whether she was falling asleep or popping someone's hip back into place.

Mark haphazardly cleaned up takeout containers and put used glasses into the dishwasher.

Ten minutes later there was a sharp knock at the door.

"Finally," he breathed a sigh of relief.

"Who's there, Mark?" Callie moaned from the floor, "it's not even 6 am."

Mark rushed to open the door, hoping someone could talk sense into Callie. He had never been so thrilled to see Miranda Bailey in his life.

"Where is she?" Bailey demanded.

Mark opened the door wider and pointed to Callie. "She won't go to the hospital, she won't let me call anyone. We have no idea how she's progressing. I offered to check her myself, but she refused," he said in a rush.

Bailey held her hand up, stopping him. She walked over to Callie and gently placed a hand on her back.

"Callie."

Callie looked up at her with tear filled eyes. She quickly brushed aside the few tears that escaped.

Mark watched the silent exchange between the two women from the doorway. It pained him to see Callie struggling.

"I know it hurts, Callie," Bailey softly said.

"No, no," she said, sitting up again.

"It doesn't hurt?"

"I'm scared," Callie whispered shyly.

"Well, girl, of course you're scared." Bailey pushed Callie's hair out of her eyes. "This is undiscovered territory. But that doesn't matter now. You love this baby."

Callie nodded.

"That's all that matters. You and that fool over there are baby crazy!"

"But we don't have everything ready. And we still have too many names to choose from."

"That baby doesn't care about its outfits or even its name yet. All it wants is to eat, sleep, poop and be loved."

"Okay," Callie replied meekly.

Mark was shocked. She was usually so fearless and strong. She'd never told him how scared she was for this baby to arrive.

"Can I check you out, Cal?" Bailey asked.

Callie nodded.

Mark rushed over to help her up. Their eyes met and he saw some of that fire return to her. She'd be okay. "You can do this, Callie," he murmured into her ear, brushing his cheek against hers.

Callie puckered her lips and Mark reciprocated with a kiss.

"Hell no. We are not putting this off any longer," Bailey said.

"We don't have to do this here," Callie said. "Let's go to the hospital."

"Thank you!" Mark exclaimed. He did not want to have to deliver his child in their bed.

"I'm not finished. If either of you say a word to anyone…" Callie didn't have to complete the sentence. Mark and Bailey both knew that stare she was giving them. Bailey had taught her that stare.

An hour later Callie was at 5 cm. She'd declined all pain medication, sticking with her "women give birth in rice paddies" rationale.

She refused to allow anyone into the room besides Mark, Bailey and the OB. While they waited for Addison, who they hoped would arrive before the baby, they shot baby names back and forth at each other. They had narrowed the boys names down to three, but the girls names were still running rampant. There were just too many great ones to choose from.

"Jenna," Callie shot out.

"Veto. The second girl I slept with."

Callie rolled her eyes. "Chloe?"

"No," Mark said. "Marka?"

"Seriously? Are you that vain?"

"Joking, Cal."

Her smile turned into a grimace.

Mark stroked her hair, feeling helpless, but doing everything he could to support her.

"It has to mean something," he muttered, while he waited for the pain to pass.

"Emma?" he asked?

"Maybe. Maia?"

"I like that."

"Sofia?"


	3. Chapter 3

Addison swept into the room, flanked by Bailey and Lucy Fields, and looking elegant as ever in sky high Jimmy Choo heels and a Diane von Furstenberg wrap dress.

"How's it going, Cal?" she asked excitedly.

"9 centimeters," Mark replied. He was holding Callie's hands as she maintained a squatting position. "Look at this," Mark gestured, letting go for one second. "She's gone all natural on us. The girl who's all about getting the drugs when she's in pain has refused all medication."

"Hey," Bailey interjected. "I did the same thing. You don't get to talk." She wagged a finger at him. "When you have a human the size of a bowling ball working it's way out of your body, it's up to you, until then, she makes the decisions, and you keep doing what you're doing."

Addison laughed at Bailey's characteristic scolding. "It's good to be back. Callie, you get back into that bed, and I'll go change."

"No," Callie yelled.

"What?"

"If you leave this room, everyone will see you and everyone will know I'm in here."

"Cal, I think people know you're here. Mark isn't at work, neither of you are receiving calls and the Chief knows you've been admitted."

"But, how…"

"I've taken care of the crowd," Bailey said. "All they needed were some Bailey eyes. But this better not take too much longer, they're getting antsy."

Addison left and returned in full gear. Her hair had been pulled into a ponytail and the heels had been exchanged for her signature navy blue crocs.

"Let's check you out," she said from the foot of the bed.

Mark couldn't help but wonder how Addison felt about this situation. Four years ago this could have been the two of them. He, for one, had finally gotten over the hurt. He was able to see that the two of them wouldn't have worked out and that he hadn't been ready to be a father then. Luckily, his immaturity had led him to Callie. They were both the people who skipped a bunch of steps. She'd said so herself. But their skipping a bunch of steps had made this baby. Their best friend with benefits status quickly changed to in a relationship to engaged. Some days Mark woke up and still couldn't believe that he was going to marry his beautiful best friend.

"Mark, are you okay? This hasn't even started yet." Addison pulled him out of his daze.

Mark leaned over the bed and pecked Callie on the cheek. "I love you so much," he said.

She grabbed his hand and looked at him with the same fear she had earlier.

"Callie." He looked her square in the eye. "You CAN do this. Look how far we've come in such a short amount of time. We're finally getting it right."

Addison patted Callie's knee. "You're so close, Cal. In just a little while you actually get to meet this tiny human. I'm glad I made it when I did."

"Help her," Addison mouthed at Mark.

He knew he couldn't say anything more to comfort her. She had endured hours of pain to get to this point.

"Sit up."

"What?" She looked at him tiredly.

"I'm getting in that bed with you."

"Mark, it's a very small bed."

"We've fit before, gauze paws and all."

She smiled.

He swung a leg up and hopped into to the bed behind her.

She leaned against him and he could sense her exhaustion. He took her hand and placed both their hands on her belly one last time. It was rock hard in the midst of a contraction. "We're about to meet whoever's in there."

"Okay, Callie, on the count of three I want you to push down," Addison said. "One, two, three."

She squeezed both of Mark's hands, hard. While he hated seeing her like this, he also wondered when she last filed her nails. They were sharp. And digging into his palms. "Great," Addison said. "On the next one, do the same thing."

Mark noticed her black hair sticking to the back of her neck. He grabbed the extra elastic she always kept on her wrist and tied her hair into a sloppy ponytail.

"Thanks," Callie whispered before grimacing and gritting her teeth.

"Great," Addison repeated. "I can see the top of its head. Keep going."

Mark kept waiting for Callie to castigate him for causing her all this pain, but it never came. Maybe ripping the skin out of his hands was her way of telling him.

"Do you want the mirror?" Addison asked.

Callie and Mark's answers clashed.

"Mom's vote wins on this," Addison said.

She got out the mirror; Mark took one glance and shuddered. Callie shot him a glare.

Ten minutes later the entire head had emerged.

"That head looks like a boy, definitely a boy," Mark exclaimed.

"That's our little girl," Callie said.

Addison did her best to keep a straight face at the foot of the bed.

"Okay, one more, Callie, then you get to find out for sure."

Callie actually screamed for the first time as the baby's shoulders made their way out of her body, and then the rest of the baby came sliding out.

"It's a girl!" Addison announced. She placed the baby on Callie's chest.

Mark and Callie stared at her in awe. "Sofia," Callie said to her daughter. "Because you've brought us so much wisdom in the last nine months."

"Sofia," Mark repeated. "She's finally here."


End file.
